As someone who has repaired circuit boards, you should know you will ideally want a circuit diagram for said board.

$130 is actually not a bad price, as you also probably know, although I too like the thrill of a challenge. Certainly in terms of your time it will be cheaper to replace it but with some luck your component cost will be smallish.

What is on the board? Lots of ICs? Have you been able to find voltage on the board? Is it supplied with ac or dc?

In my experience, firstly look for burnt parts I kid you not) next, the two most likely failed components will be capacitors or semiconductors. Try and find voltage at selected points on the board eg at the caps and try to narrow it down. If the components are surface mount, don't waste your time, you need a special soldering iron for it, and awfully good eyesight, not to mention the components themselves. You can get bulk components on ebay cheap, including sm components, but you will have to buy a range, which will end up costing you more, but might be fun to try.

My experience has been most new devices have a lot of proprietary chips that are not available to purchase. $130 is probably the best option..

That's true, or I suppose going back a bit, eproms with proprietary software on them.